“I know these guys, I know our team,” Bartow said Wednesday. “I just know where we’re good and where our weaknesses are and we’re a lot better in either a 2-3 or a 3-2 right now than we are in man.”

UCLA (12-11, 5-5 Pac-12) will try to fix the leak in its defense Saturday to avoid getting swept at home in a conference series for just the third time in the past 15 years as the Bruins host Utah at 2 p.m. The Utes (12-10, 6-4 Pac-12) are in a four-way tie for second place in the Pac-12 after a 77-70 win over USC on Wednesday.

UCLA’s zone got picked apart by an uncharacteristically sharp-shooting Colorado team that shot a season-high 54.2 percent from 3-point range Wednesday. It was a misstep for a recently improving defense that had held each of its prior three opponents to less than 70 points, a defensive streak that matched the longest of the season.

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Bartow, who has helped the Bruins go from 103rd in defensive efficiency last year to 74th, according to Ken Pomeroy, said if the Bruins spend more time refining their man-to-man defense, he would more strongly consider using it in a game. But statistically, he emphasized, UCLA is more effective in zone, whether it’s the 2-3, 3-2 or 1-3-1.

“We have so much length,” forward Jalen Hill said. “And our guys can just cover the floor so well. So just being in a zone, it just helps the team better.”

Back on track?

It’s not yet a trend, but for Chris Smith, whose struggles have stretched for nearly a month, it was at least a start.

Smith, who had played just 15 minutes combined in the previous three games and was scoreless in four of the past five, lasted 30 minutes against Colorado and scored 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting with three rebounds, three assists and one turnover.

Turnovers appeared to be the root of much of the sophomore’s struggles lately as he was averaging 6.0 turnovers per 40 minutes played in Pac-12 games entering Wednesday’s matchup. No other player in UCLA’s regular 10-man rotation averaged more than 4.8.

“We’re 11 to 12 guys deep so we want everyone to play well,” guard Jaylen Hands said of Smith’s recent slump. “To see your friend and teammate do well after he’s been having a rough spot is always good.”

Smith has played 30 minutes only twice this season, with the other one being the Pac-12 opener against Stanford, which was his first career start. The following game, he scored a career-high-tying 15 points against Cal.

Award finalist

Freshman Moses Brown was named one of 10 finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year award on Friday. Brown, who met Adbul-Jabbar at a game earlier this year, is averaging 11.4 points and 8.7 rebounds. He ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in rebounding.

Thuc Nhi Nguyen has covered UCLA for the Southern California News Group since 2016. A proud Seattle native, she majored in journalism and mathematics at the University of Washington. She likes graphs, animated GIFs and superheroes.